period there is abundant evidence that in some cases at least the highest ecclesiastics were married men.
The monastic system was still further modified by the spirit of clanship which pervaded all Irish institutions of that age. The Irish chiefs were nominally subject to the kings, but within their own territory they were absolute masters, and wielded a power of life and death over their subjects. It is said that these powers were sometimes shamefully abused, but if so, the abuse did not prevent the members of the tribe from rendering the most faithful adherence and obedience to the hereditary chief. The same spirit was imported into the religious communities. As Montalembert well says, 'The great monasteries of Ireland were nothing else, to speak simply, than clans reorganized under a religious form. From this cause resulted the extraordinary number of their inhabitants, which were counted by hundreds and thousands, and from this also came their influence and productiveness, which were still more wonderful.' In some cases, the original grant of a site carried with it the right of chieftainship, and the ecclesiastical superior thus became the head of the tribe. In others the lay element prevailed, and the chief who led the warriors to battle presided also over the aftairs of the monastery. Generally, however, the rule was that the monastic superior should be chosen from the ruling family and in all cases the monastery and the clan were so closely connected that the interest of the one was identical with the interest of the other.
The clanship of the Irish had its influence on the Church another way. As each tribe was practically independent of all others, and settled its own alfairs in its own way, it was natural that each tribe would desire to have its own bishop. It would
